Japanese First Area Army

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Japanese First Area Army


caption=Capitulation of Japanese forces in Manchukuo
dates= 1942-07-02 - 1945-08-15
country= Empire of Japan
allegiance=
branch= Imperial Japanese Army
type= Infantry
role= Field Army
garrison=Mukden
nickname= 鋭 ("Ei" = “sharp”)
battles=Operation August Stormcommand structure
name= Japanese First Area Army
date=1945
parent=Kwangtung Army
subordinate=

* Japanese 3rd Army
* Japanese 5th Army
* 122nd Infantry Division
* 134th Infantry Division
* 139th Infantry Division
The nihongo| Japanese First Area Army|第1方面軍|Dai ichi hōmen gun was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, based in northern Manchukuo and active in combat against the Soviet Union in the closing stages of the war. [Jowett, The Japanese Army 1931-45]

History

The Japanese 1st Area Army was formed on 1942-07-04 under the control of the Kwangtung Army as a military reserve and garrison force to maintain security and public order in northern Manchukuo as many veteran divisions of the Kwangtung Army were transferred to the various southern fronts in the Pacific War. It consisted mostly of minimally-trained reservists, conscripted students and home guard militia, without adequate weapons or supplies. The 1st Area Army was headquartered in Dunhua, in what is now the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Jilin Province, China.

The units of the 1st Area Army proved to be no match for the Red Army when the Soviet Union invaded Manchukuo in Operation August Storm at the end of World War II. Without adequate armor, ammunition or leadership, many units broke and fled, or surrendered en masse. [ Glantz, The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945 ] Many surviving soldiers of the 1st Area Army, including it commanding officer General Seiich Kita, became prisoners in Siberia and other parts of the Soviet Union after the surrender of Japan on 1945-08-15. [ Frank, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire ]

List of Commanders

Commanding officer

=Chief of Staff=

References

Books

*cite book
last = Frank
first = Richard B
coauthors =
year = 1999
title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire
publisher = Random House
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-679-41424-X
*cite book
last = Glantz
first = David
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2003
chapter =
title = The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945 (Cass Series on Soviet (Russian) Military Experience, 7)
publisher = Routledge
location =
id = ISBN 0-7146-5279-2
*cite book
last = Jowett
first = Bernard
coauthors =
year = 1999
title = The Japanese Army 1931-45 (Volume 2, 1942-45)
publisher = Osprey Publishing
location =
id = ISBN 1841763543
*cite book
last = Madej
first = Victor
coauthors =
year = 1981
title = Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945
publisher = Game Publishing Company
location =
id = ASIN: B000L4CYWW
*cite book
last = Marston
first = Daniel
coauthors =
year = 2005
title = The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima
publisher = Osprey Publishing
location =
id = ISBN 1841768820
*cite book
last = Hasegawa
first = Tsuyoshi
coauthors =
year =
title = Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan
publisher = Belknap Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-674-01693-9

External links

*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6737
title = Axis History Factbook
work = Japanese First Area Army

Notes